Wrench-acting tool



Mann 9, 1943. J.JA.RONNINGV 2,343,398;

WRENCH-ACTING TOOL Filed June 29; 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet l Jrvenior Jacob .ALRonh z;

- Margh 9, 1943. .1. A. RONNING Filed June 29, 1959 s SheetsSheet 5 K Jae 015 A. Ronni by .7321)" 491 501 17 J Patented Mar. 9, 1943 UNITED STATES ear-Eur ot'rica 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in wrench-acting tools or torque producing devices and isin the nature of an improvement on or modification of the wrench-acting tool structures disclosed and claimed ina co-pending application Serial Number- 28-l,886; filed-Jointly bymyself 'and'Thomas B. Newell of even date herewith, and which applicationris a continuation-of our earlier filed application;

The device-herein illustrated like the devices illustrated in the'co-pending applications identie fied comprises a shaft adapted to engage work at one end while its other endis journaledin one of theoperators hands; and having a: rotary hammer mounted onthe intermediate portion thereof for limited rotary movement, andwhich; hammer is adapted tobe rotated by the-othen of the operators hands.

Although the devices of our previousapplications have proven very successful. and have met with wide commercial acceptance, they aresometimesobjected to in that the range of differentkinds of work whichcan be accomplished with any. given lengthoi shaft isessentially limited to. jobswhereinthe radially. projecting portions, of the hammer will clear obstructionswithin theplane of movement thereof, Whichis; inthese previousdevices, affixed distance fromthe work engaging end-of the shaftsince no provision is made for axial-extension of. the; shaftv or axial.

adjustment of the hammer. on the shaft.

This invention seeks to and does, in fact, provide a tool in, whichthe above noted dis;- adyantage of our previous structures is oyercome; whileat the same timeretainingmost oflthe important objectives and advantages of the tool; of our earlier applications. To this end the shaft of the tool isproyided witha cross sectionaliy angular intermediate portion, preferably. of relatively great length with respect to the overall length of the shaft, and the hammer is rotatively mounted on a bearing member which has an;angular aperture which is axially slidableon and rotatively interlocks the bearing to the shaft.

In the preferred forms of the device herein illustrated this bearing member isremovable from the shaft axially thereof; and also in thepreferred embodiments of the invention illustrated; this hearing member is axially interlocked to the hammer sot-hat the hammer-ar 1dbearing member are axially displaceable as-a; unit.

The-above noted and. other important objects and; advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawings like characters, indicatelikeparts throughout the several views;

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective: View illustrating the invention beingused to remove. theanchor nuts Ora-veh c e wheel; 7

Fig. 2 is asomewhat enlargedperspective view. of-the tool'illustrating-two; different axially adjusted positions I of the; hammer on the shaft.

Fig. 3 is;- a. perspective view showing severalparts" of, the tool: insegregated axially alignedrelet on;

Eig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view-.ofthe hubpo-rtion of-thehammer withone flange thereof-rernoved as beforecomplete assembly;

Ei-g. 5 .isa perspective View of the removed hub Fig; 6-.is-a perspective view- 0f-the bearing member;

Fig 7 is astill further enlarged view partly, in-axiahsectionwith some parts on thesection lin being shownin full, the section being taken Fig; 8 is a transverse sectional View taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. '7 but with the hammer hub turned with respect to the position shown in-Fig; '7;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentaryview correponding to Fig; 7 but illustrating anadditional feature preferably; employed inthe device; and

Fig, 10. shows in perspective the shaft designated. as illustrated in fiig; 9-.

InFig. 1 a vehicle wheel is. indicated by A, a pair of pneumatic tiresmounted on the wheel by. B, the wheelhub by C and nut equipped wheel anchoring bolts by D..

The tool shaft indicated asap entirety by I0 is illustrated as being provided at one end with an integrally formed work engaging head H in thenature of a nut-receiving socket, and at its otherend said shaftis illustrated as being provided with an angular Work engaging head l2 which may be used toengage a socket nut or the like but which is shown as being equipped with a: removable supplementary work engaging head i3, in. the nature of a nut-receiving socket; Whereas; the opposite endportions of the shaft Hi. inwardly of the work: engaging heads are shown as being, andare preferably,cy1indrical cross sectionally, the extended intermediate portion of the shaft is cross sectionallyangular, preferably hexangular.

By. referenceto the drawings. it will be seenthat the minimum diameter portions of the an,-

gula intermediate portion of. the shaft have a diameter at least as great or slightly larger than that of the cylindrical portions of the shaft, this being for the purpose of rendering the hammer and its bearing readily removable axially of the shaft. The cylindrical gripping end portions of the shaft III are indicated by I4 and the angular intermediate portions thereof is indicated by I5.

The hammer, in its preferred form illustrated, comprises a tubular or annular hub portion indicated as an entirety by I6, and a pair of like diametrically opposed weighted radial arms II, which arms are relatively heavy throughout and provided adjacent their ends with enlarged hand gripping portions I8. As will be seen by reference to the drawings, the annular hub I6 is formed to afford a radially inwardly opening annular chamber I9 defined at its sides by radially inwardly projecting annular end thrust flanges 2i]. Preferably for-med integrally with the hammer hub and projecting into the annular channel I 9 is an oppositely disposed pair of rotary impact abutment lugs 2 I.

The annular bearing member22, which has external cylindrical bearing surface sections 23, has an angular axial aperture 24 to'slidably but snugly receive the angular intermediate portion I5 of the shaft. The external bearing surfaces 23 of the bearing member are journaled in cooperating bearing surfaces formed by the cylindrical free edges of the flanges 20, and said bearing member is provided with diametrically opposed radially projecting rotary impact abutment lugs 25. These abutment lugs 25 work in the annular channel I9 of the hammer in radially overlapping relation to the abutments 2| so that the opposite circumferentially spaced striking surfaces thereof cooperate with similar striking surfaces on the abutments 2 I. The abutment lugs 25 are preferably just slightly narrower than the channel I9 so that the opposite axially spaced sides thereof will afford end thrust guide surfaces which will cooperate with the annular end thrust guide surfaces of the flanges to axially interlock the bearing member within the annular hub.

While the tool described is extremely well adapted for use in the extreme tightening up of or the loosening of extremely tight nuts, bolts and the like, it should be understood that it is equally adaptable for performing innumerable other operations requiring a high degree of torque power. One very urgent need for such a wrench-acting tool has been found in the automotive service business for removing anchor nuts from wheels of large vehicles, such as automobiles, trucks, tractors and the like, in which not only is a high degree of torque power necessary to securely anchor the wheels to their hubs, but in which an even much greater amount of power is often necessary to loosen such tightly engaged nuts after they have become corroded or rusted.

This device is used as an ordinary cross wrench insofar as is possible, but to obtain initial tightening pressure and/or initial loosening pressure, the hammer is given a rapid rotation with respect to the shaft to bring the cooperating abutments together, which causes the rotary inertia of the heavy hammer to be abruptly transmitted to the shaft and through the shaft to the nut or bolt. The rotary impact thus produced is sufficient to loosen or tighten nuts or bolts which would otherwise require great auxiliary pressure over and above that which could be produced through application of manual pressure to an arm of corresponding length in a conventional tool not embodying such slack motion construction.

In the use of ordinary cross wrenches or other conventional tools, auxiliary pressure over and above that which can be produced by direct pull or push by an operator on the tool arm is usually provided by means of long extension arms or hammering on the tool itself. Insofar as the operations of the device in the manner illustrated in the drawings is concerned, it operates the same as the device of the above identified prior applications insofar as the actual loosening or tightening of the nuts or the like is concerned, but in the present tool the hammer may be axially adjustably positioned on the shaft, which is very important mainly for the following reasons, to wit: (a) In order to obtain maximum efiiciency and a minimum of vibration, it is desirable to position the hammer as closely as possible to the work engaged end of the shaft, which, of course, also minimizes the torque strain upon the shaft. (b) By reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the minimum distance that the hammer can be operated from its work engaging end in this particular job is determined by the depth of the recess of the wheel to the limit providing Working clearance for the operators hands. Whereas in the illustration, the wheel recess permits approximate centering of the hammer on the shaft, it Will be obvious that in larger wheels wherein the recess is deeper, either a tool with a longer shaft must be resorted to or the hammer must be axially shifted off center on the shaft. Hence, due to the axial adjustability of the hammer on the shaft, the shaft can be made relatively very short as compared to a device wherein the hammer was not shiftable axially, thus increasing the scope of the work which can be done with a tool shaft of given length.

To remove the shaft and bearing member bodily from the shaft it is necessary only to remove the work engaging head I3 and slide the bearing member axially off of the shaft. With this device, as in the devices of the co-pending applications identified, a single hammer can be used with a variety of shafts each adapted for a different kind or type of work.

By reference to the drawings it will be seen that the axial centers of the rotary impact abutments 2| and 25 are located in the axial center of weight of the hammer, which is important in that in this construction the rotary impact between the hammer and shaft is transmitted with a minimum of vibration, which vibration is not only annoying to the operator but, of course,

reduces the, overall eificiency of the rotary im-' pact.

' of these units have been completed, the bearing member 22 is placed in the hub recess I9, after which the separately formed flange 29 is put into place against the exposed ends of the abutments 2I and is welded to the hammer hub as best shown at x in Fig. '7 so as to form the same into Preferably the improved tool illustrated is an integral unit with the hammer and lock the bearing member in position.

Frequently the tool will be used with the shaft H] in a vertical position and for such use it is desirable to have means for holding the hammer against vertical sliding movements on the shaft l0. This is accomplished in a very simple way by providing the central portion 15 of the shaft 8 with plunger seats 26 and providing the section 23 with an extended lug 21, and mounted in said lug an inwardly spring pressed lock pin 28, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10.

What I claim is:

In a lost-motion socket wrench having a shaft member adapted for operation with its axis in a substantially horizontal position, said shaft having a socket at one end and a non-circular intermediate portion and a circular handle portion at the other end, an inner hub member slidable onto said shaft from one end thereof and having a non-circular opening adapted to coact with the correspondingly shaped portion of said shaft for rotating the one from the other, impact lug means projecting laterally outwardly from said inner hub member and having oppositely disposed impact surfaces, cylindrical bearing surfaces on said inner hub member on opposite sides of said impact lug means adjacent the base thereof, a cooperating outer hammer-acting hub member having on opposite sides thereof spaced wall-forming flanges projecting radially inwardly therefrom a distance greater than the height of said impact lug means for embracing same therebetween, said flanges having internally formed cylindrical bearing surfaces for rotatably engaging the corresponding cylindrical bearing surfaces of said inner hub, and striking lug means on said outer hub member projecting radially inwardly between the wall-forming flanges thereof and having oppositely disposed striking surfaces engageable with corresponding surfaces of said impact lug means on relative rotation of said inner and outer hub members.

JACOB A. RONNING. 

